Brighton Cattle Market is described by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

(Oct.) He writes, “Thursday of every week which by common consent and custom is market day changes the generally quiet village of Brighton into a scene of bustle and excitement. At early morning the cattle, sheep etc. are hurried in and soon the morning train from Boston, omnibuses, carriages, and other ‘vehicular mediums’ bring a throng of drovers, buyers, speculators and spectators; so that by 10 o’clock, there are generally gathered as many as two or three hundred vehicles in the area fronting the Cattle Fair Hotel.”